


K: Unlocked

by viceversa



Series: Soulmates A-Z [11]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Meeting, they're cute in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29789166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viceversa/pseuds/viceversa
Summary: They'll figure it out, together.-k...eys and locks are randomly dispersed to soulmates on chains when they are born. when in proximity, the lock and key will act as magnets and bring the two soulmates closer together until the key is placed in the lock and a gratifying click is heard, unlocking the chain.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Series: Soulmates A-Z [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149590
Comments: 12
Kudos: 50





	K: Unlocked

The Lock Council had been around forever, and it was just a facet of society that no one particularly questioned because they were always right. Whatever genetic, socio-economic, spiritual, or magical tools they utilized to determine soulmates, it had worked reliably for centuries - even if it was ultimately a bit mysterious. 

When a baby was born, within a week a representative from the council turned up and dispersed a key or lock that would match them with their soulmate one day. The pairs acted like magnets, somehow psychically connected in a way that led people together. 

As with anything, some families rejected it, and others formed cults around it. Humans were weird like that, wired to take anything from one extreme to the next, but most of the population just fell in the middle - accepting the reality, looking forward to the day they felt that magnetic pull and experienced the unlocking. 

-

When Jack was a few days old, she was given a key in an envelope marked with her name. When her mother opened it, she was expecting a lock. The inherent phallic and yonic implications of a key and a lock had been a part of gender norms for decades, but as the world grew and changed, so did those norms. 

It didn’t stop Jack from being teased growing up. 

If anything, the fact that she was the only girl in her class with a key hanging around her neck made her tough, more than ready to defend herself. That came in handy as the years passed and she never felt drawn to anyone, anywhere. Instead, her life turned into a series of overcoming various traumas. 

Jack Sloane went through hell and back, over and over again, and found herself still alone in her early 50s. She’d had every possible emotion about it, from thinking she’d been a rare mistake of the system to believing her soulmate was dead. What she thought about most at this point was what kind of soulmate she would make if she ever did meet them, and if her history would scare them away. 

-

Gibbs’ key, the one he’d worn his entire life on the same chain he’d attached his dog tags to, had fit Shannon’s lock. Their relationship was fated and felt right, and when she was so violently torn from him just ten years after they’d experienced the unlocking together, Gibbs never took his key off. He buried his wife with her lock, and his daughter with hers, never to be unlocked. 

He thought that was how it would be for the rest of his life, but after his father died, and much to his own shock, Gibbs found out that when he was a baby he was given a key  _ and _ a lock.

The discovery was made when he closed his family’s safety deposit box in Stillwater. The envelope that had been delivered to his mother when he was an infant wasn’t empty like he thought - instead it contained a chain with a lock on the end and a short note written in his mother’s handwriting. 

_ Leroy, I hope one day you can forgive us from keeping this from you. I believe the times will change, but it was too much to give you both, especially the lock. I pray we made the right choice, and that this lock finds its way to you at the right time.  _ _  
_ _ Love, Mom. _

The lock went into his pocket, then lived on the top of his dresser for three and a half years. 

After he got back from Paraguay, Gibbs found himself paused in front of the dresser. He’d told Grace that he was happy, that he’d found a new lease on life, and this could be another step to embracing that idea. 

Without overthinking it, Gibbs picked up the chain and put it on, the lock clicking against the key on his chest. He huffed out a laugh and tucked both chains under his hoodie and went back downstairs to work on his boat, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into. 

He didn’t have to wait long

-

As much as Jack was in love with the sun of California, something about Leon’s job offer felt right to accept. As soon as she agreed, something in her gut started to get tense with excitement, and it followed her as she made the move to DC. 

Of course, two days after touching down, the universe threw a hurricane at her. But Jack was determined to follow through with what she thought was a brilliant plan - a recon mission to scope out the infamous Agent Gibbs. 

Her plan worked out well at first - she gained entry by playing helpless, using the hurricane to her advantage. 

“Holy cow! You’re a sight for sore eyes!” She barreled in from the rain, nearly running into the man by accident.

Suddenly in his home, in front of the agent who had become legend, Jack could immediately understand the hype. He was ready to help, offering to fix her car for her even in this weather, and she was able to talk him down to coffee and a chat. 

She called his style retro-chic, and he watched in horror as she added sugar to her coffee. She asked what he’d been up to that day, and he talked about building a boat in his basement. 

“That I’ve got to see!” she exclaimed, not having to feign her interest. 

Gibbs stood and tilted his head, and Jack followed him without question, holding her coffee closely. 

“Wow, that sure is a boat. Lucky timing, the way this storm is going.”

Just then, lightning flashed outside and the thunder roared, supporting her point. They stopped next to the half-built project and as Jack took it in, Gibbs turned to her, closer than she thought he’d been. Jack felt immediately pinned by his stare, hyper aware of him. She turned and tried to repress the urge to move away from him, warring oddly with an urge to move closer. 

“Gibbs?”

“You gonna tell me who you really are, Jack?” he asked, frank. 

Jack was a little disappointed that she’d been found out so quickly, but also impressed. “How did you figure it out?”

“No civilian holds their ID like that.”

Jack deflated in good humor. “I didn’t have you fooled at all, did I?”

“No,” he smirked, laughing despite himself. “No, you didn’t.” He pinned her with a look, raising his eyebrow. 

“Jack Sloane, the new forensic psychologist,” she introduced herself again, reaching out a hand. “Sorry for lying earlier - Leon told me a lot about you and, well. I wanted to check on my own.”

Gibbs shook her hand with a firm grip, and Jack nearly let out a gasp at the sensation. 

She’d never been so immediately attracted to a man before, but there was something… intensely alluring about him. But she tried to suppress her reactions. Not only had it been nearly a decade since she last tried to be in a relationship, this man was about to be her coworker. 

“Nice to meet ya, Jack.”

-

Now that he knew that this woman wasn’t there to kill him, probably, Gibbs had a new problem of what to do with a woman in his basement in the middle of a hurricane. 

Surprisingly, he had to suppress a few more… inappropriate thoughts that sprang to mind. Jack was obviously very beautiful, and even if her smile had been a mask to trick him at first, he found that he didn’t mind that much. If he was being honest with himself, he’d say he felt drawn to her. 

At that thought, thunder sounded again and the lights in his basement flickered, going out for a few seconds before coming back on. He caught her startled look and felt instinctively that she had a story there - maybe even a story similar to the one he’d just come back from. 

Figuring it’d be best to get out of the basement before the power went out, he motioned for the stairs, bumping into her slightly in a rare display of clumsiness as he crossed past her. 

“I got a feelin’ your car is fine, too, but I can’t make you leave in this. It’s gettin’ worse,” he said to cover the accidental contact. He figured they’d need it, so he grabbed the half empty bottle of bourbon and his mug from his workbench before following her up the stairs.

Jack nodded, managing to shake off the shadow that had crossed her face in the basement by the time they got to the kitchen. “Thanks. I guess this was the part of the plan I hadn’t thought through,” she laughed. “I haven’t dealt with a hurricane before.”

As she said it, Gibbs detected no trace of fear in her voice. Instead he sensed a hint of curiosity as to what would happen next and a willingness to face whatever it would be. 

Gibbs led the way back to his living room and stoked the fire he’d built earlier, adding another log. Jack took a seat on his couch and took the final sip of her coffee, setting it down next to the bourbon on the coffee table.

“So tell me about yourself, Gibbs.”

He turned at the fireplace and raised an eyebrow at her again. She was undeterred. 

“What? Just because you found me out doesn’t mean I’m going to drop it.”

“There’s not much to tell,” he said. 

She snorted. “I doubt that.”

“What about you?” he asked instead, sitting down next to her. He offered the bottle to her and she nodded, letting him tip some into her empty coffee mug and then his own. 

-

Jack was caught entirely off guard by Gibbs. He was in some ways exactly as Leon had described - a good man, an excellent agent, and someone who got straight to the point. But he was also… more than that. She felt drawn to him, even while sitting on his couch and being interrogated. 

“Um, where to start,” she laughed at the question, covering her own nerves at the prospect of revealing any part of her past and thankful for the bourbon. She took a sip and decided to start with the basics. 

“Let’s see. Former Army Lieutenant, PsyOps. Doctorate in Forensic Psychology. Uh,” she stuttered. “Single. Flew in from San Diego two days ago.” She shut herself up then, embarrassed at having said that much.  _ Single? Really? _

“Army? Workin’ for NCIS?”

It was a fair question. “Leon and I go way back.” Gibbs nodded, not following up, and she took it as her turn to prod back. “Marines?” she asked, already knowing the answer. 

He ducked his head. “Through Desert Storm,” he acknowledged. “Started at NIS in ‘92, but you probably know that already.”

“I may have glanced at your file, but mainly to get your address. It is my job to know who I’m working with so I know how best to help them.”

Gibbs acknowledged the remark with another sip of bourbon and they both sat back against the couch, eyes drawn to the fire. Jack found it easy to sit with him as the storm raged outside, his living room a small safe haven that she was stuck in. 

Some time passed in relative silence, enough for another round of bourbon. Jack pulled her phone from her boot and checked the forecast, noting that instead of a reprieve like originally predicted, the pounding rain would be continuing for a while. 

“Wow, looks like I am stuck here for a while if you don’t mind it. This isn’t letting up.”

The alcohol was making her feel looser, and she smiled when Gibbs just shrugged at the forecast. They talked about nothing and anything for a while, making a dent in the bottle as she asked about NCIS and the kinds of cases he’d seen, and he asked about what she’d been doing in California and how PsyOps was. 

Eventually the conversation landed on her teasing him about the outcome of the last Army-Navy game, absentmindedly playing with the chain around her neck. Halfway through a laugh, the firelight bouncing off her key drew her attention and something tugged at her gut, like she should be noticing something. 

“Ya got a key, huh?” Gibbs asked her. “‘S unusual.”

She was curious at his tone, the teasing gone out of his voice entirely. His question was genuine and she stopped her automatic defensive reply. “Yeah, it is. Times have changed a lot, but I wasn’t the most popular kid in school.”

“I, uh,” he stopped for a second.

Jack watched as he came to a decision, his eyes fixed firmly to the fireplace. She knew, somehow, that what he was about to say was important so she stayed silent. 

“I had a wife, we unlocked each other in the ‘80s. She… she died in ‘91. Thought that was it, but turns out…” 

He trailed off and Jack tracked his hand as it moved to the neck of his hoodie, pulling out his own chains, plural. He held up the ends for Jack to see - one key, one lock. She tried not to let her mouth drop open. 

Was this the feeling? That tug in her gut, the bumping into him all evening - was this what all her old friends had been describing when they’d met their match?

“Found out about this one a little while ago,” Gibbs continued, his eyes now focused on Jack’s face. “Put it on a couple weeks ago.”

“You don’t think…” Jack couldn’t bring herself to ask the full question, to hope at all, even as the feeling in her gut grew.

Gibbs bounced his shoulders, which Jack could now recognize as a sign of nerves in him. “Don’t hurt to try, Jack. Can’t say I haven’t felt different tonight, and it’s not the weather.”

Slowly, as if moving too fast would ruin it all, Jack and Gibbs put their mugs on the coffee table in tandem, moving a little closer to each other on the couch. 

Gently, Gibbs offered his lock and Jack took it in her hand, her mind flashing back to every other time she’d tried this with hope and every time her key had failed to turn. Her hands shook slightly, scratching the metals together, and he reached up to support her at her wrists. Without breathing, Jack slid the key into the lock and turned. 

A sharp click echoed through the room and they both felt it when the lock released, a wave of pressure traveling through their bodies. 

Jack looked into Gibbs’ eyes, her own holding back tears at the feeling of finally finding her person. Her hands dropped, her key still in his lock stretching the chains between them, and took a shaky breath in. 

They would figure out what this meant together, side by side. 

**Author's Note:**

> ah this one was a hard prompt, but it turned out really fun and cute to write! let me know what you think!


End file.
